Sunday, November 11, 2012

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Here's a Poem to remind us
today that War is only to be entered into after all means of diplomacy have
been exhausted. That the horrors of War are just that, not the glory and guts
we read in storybooks.

WILFRED OWEN

recognized as the greatest

English poet of the First World War.

First
World War
(with notes)

DULCE ET DECORUM EST(1)

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares(2) we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest(3) began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots(4)
Of tired, outstripped(5) Five-Nines(6) that dropped behind.

Gas!(7) Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets(8) just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime(9) . . .

Dim, through the misty panes(10) and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,(11) choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud(12)
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(13)
To children ardent(14) for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.(15)

Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 - March, 1918

Notes on Dulce et Decorum Est

1.
DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by
Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the
First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying
ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to
die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to
fight and die for your country.

2.
Flares - rockets which were sent up to burn with a brilliant glare to light up
men and other targets in the area between the front lines (See illustration,
page 118 of Out in the Dark.)

3.
Distant rest - a camp away from the front line where exhausted soldiers might
rest for a few days, or longer

4.
Hoots - the noise made by the shells rushing through the air

5.
Outstripped - outpaced, the soldiers have struggled beyond the reach of these
shells which are now falling behind them as they struggle away from the scene
of battle

6.
Five-Nines - 5.9 calibre explosive shells

7.
Gas! - poison gas. From the symptoms it would appear to be chlorine or
phosgene gas. The filling of the lungs with fluid had the same effects as when
a person drowned

8.
Helmets - the early name for gas masks

9.
Lime - a white chalky substance which can burn live tissue

10.
Panes - the glass in the eyepieces of the gas masks

11.
Guttering - Owen probably meant flickering out like a candle or gurgling like
water draining down a gutter, referring to the sounds in the throat of the
choking man, or it might be a sound partly like stuttering and partly like
gurgling

12.
Cud - normally the regurgitated grass that cows chew usually green and
bubbling. Here a similar looking material was issuing from the soldier's
mouth

13.
High zest - idealistic enthusiasm, keenly believing in the rightness of the
idea

14.
ardent - keen

15.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - see note 1 above. The pronunciation of
Dulce is DULKAY. The letter C in Latin was pronounced like the C in
"car". The word is often given an Italian pronunciation pronouncing
the C like the C in cello, but this is wrong. Try checking this out in a Latin
dictionary. - David Roberts.

About Me

Gulamhusein A. Abba is an 88-year-old writer with more than 60 years in journalism. He is originally from Bombay (now Mumbai), where his writings have been published in almost all the important news media, in English, Urdu, Gujarati and Marathi, and where he functioned in various capacities, including reporter, news and political analyst, columnist, editor and publisher.
He was also a trade unionist,
peace and justice activist and took part in political activities.
As a trade unionist he organized the maritime petty officers and the film studio workers.
He founded and was the Chairman of the Rule of Law Committee and Taxi Users' Association
In the US, he is the chairman of Justice for Palestinians Committee, and, The Danbury Committee for World Peace.
In May of 2011, The Danbury Bar Association conferred on him the prestigious Honorary AMERICAN DREAM AWARD.